Christmas Craigslist pleas may be a crock

Sunday

Dec 22, 2013 at 12:01 AMDec 22, 2013 at 12:52 PM

This time of year, it seems Craigslist has more requests for holiday help than questionable massage offers and dusty couches for sale. Some are aching stories of children wronged by absent mothers or abusive fathers. Others are apologetic, plaintive wishes for something, anything at all: ... when you get desperate you do anything. But are they real?

Lori Kurtzman, The Columbus Dispatch

These pleading posts, they all have a pattern.

They tell you about the children: My husband and I are raising our 4 grandkids. ... They don’t ask for much cause they have never had much.

They explain what has gone wrong: I don’t know what else to do ... my husband left me ...

And then they hit you with it: So this means no Christmas for the kids.

This time of year, it seems Craigslist has more requests for holiday help than questionable massage offers and dusty couches for sale. Some are aching stories of children wronged by absent mothers or abusive fathers. Others are apologetic, plaintive wishes for something, anything at all: ... when you get desperate you do anything.

But are they real?

The Dispatch responded to nine local holiday posts, requesting interviews with the people who wrote them. Seven didn’t reply. One asked to be compensated for the interview, and when the reporter explained that the paper doesn’t do that, the writer grew irate and called the reporter “ selfish.”

And then there was a real person, Jennifer Flynn, 31, who invited both a reporter and photographer to her Franklinton home. But more about her later.

Craigslist scams are nothing new. Rip-offs are so common that the Ohio attorney general’s office has a form specifically for Craigslist complaints. In the most-severe cases, people who respond to online postings never return, as was the case for three men who answered a help-wanted ad in 2011. One was killed in Summit County; two more were in Noble County. But it’s more common that someone buys your collectible figurine and never sends you a check.

Kate Hanson, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Mike DeWine, advised following basic online safety tips when responding to people seeking Christmas help — get more information, don’t wire money — or to perhaps give money to a reputable charitable organization instead.

“You want to be generous,” she acknowledged, but the veracity of those online hardship stories? “ It can be hard to tell,” she said.

Kelli Trinoskey, spokeswoman for the Salvation Army of Central Ohio, said she understands the urge to help, too. But, she said, “I think you need to go through safe channels to make sure your donation is going to go to some good.”

Salvation Army donors don’t connect directly with the agency’s clients. For privacy and safety reasons, the Salvation Army doesn’t share phone numbers or addresses, even when singling out a specific family’s need for help. Both sides are safer that way, she said.

Craigslist doesn’t offer the same protection. Many of the posts include names and phone numbers. They’re open to generous readers and harsh critics. (One person wrote just to address “the Christmas Beggars on here”: Quit expecting others to help you out, you had your kids now take care of them.)

Jennifer Flynn knew she was opening herself up when she wrote “We are in need,” but she was running out of options. There were five kids in her house, three more than had been there last year. A few months ago, her boyfriend’s ex dropped off his three teens and said she couldn’t care for them.

“My (two) kids, they get a little something,” Flynn said. “The other ones haven’t had Christmas in three, four years. Last year, they woke up to nothing.”

Our hearts are breaking, she wrote.

They all sat in the living room of a two-bedroom duplex the other day, a Christmas tree draped with tinsel in the corner. Flynn said someone gave her the tree. There was an illuminated star on the top and nothing underneath.

Flynn’s story isn’t perfect, she knows. Her boyfriend has several children and can’t work after a shoulder replacement. He has served jail time for failing to pay child support. Flynn scrapes by doing home health-care work three days a week. The job pays the bills and not much else.

She tried looking for help from toy drops, but those were geared toward younger kids, she said. The teens — twins Stephen and Stephanie, 13, and Ambrea, 15 — said they wanted clothes or video games. So Flynn pulled up Craigslist, posted pictures of the kids, offered her phone number, said the situation was “tearing us up.” That was more than a week ago.

She said she understands how people might doubt her story. She didn’t really expect to get any help.